Since the Mets won last night, that means tonight’s Game 4 is an elimination game is NOT an elimination game, which means, for only the fourth time ever…there will be baseball played in November.

I mean, it’s crazy to think about! Today is Halloween and the 2015 Baseball season is still going on. Tomorrow would start the SEVENTH month of baseball this season.

When you think of the World Series, you think of October. Reggie Jackson was Mr. October. It’s called the Fall Classic. The first time the World Series even stretched into November was during the 2001 series, when the regular season was pushed back 6 days due to 9/11. Game 7 of the ’01 Series between the Yankees and Diamondbacks was played on November 4th.

The first November-scheduled World Series was in 2009 (Yankees vs Phillies) as the 2009 season started late due to World Baseball Classic.

In 2010, the season was slated to start on April 5th, a week later than previous seasons, which resulted in World Series Game 5 (Giants vs Rangers) to be played November 1st. The Giants won the championship in that game.

If this series goes 7 games, Game 7 will be played on November 4th, which ties the 2001 and 2009 series for latest game.

So who knows? Maybe in the next few years we’ll be playing the World Series so late into November, it will look like this:

In case you live under a rock, this is from the 10th inning of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, when Bill Buckner let a grounder from Mookie Wilson get through the infield allowing the winning run to score. Before that happened, the Red Sox had a 3-2 series lead and even a 5-2 lead at the start of the bottom of the 10th inning and it looked like they had the game and the series locked up. The Mets scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 10th (the last one being on the play above) and went on to win Game 7 two days later.

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So while this post has mostly been about one guy for the other team, a lot can (and should) be said about the 1986 Mets.

Managed by Davey Johnson, they won 108 games and the NL East division. In the 10th inning of a game on July 22 against the Reds, 3B Ray Knight got into a bench-clearing brawl with Eric Davis and both were ejected, along with two other players. Without enough players, Davey Johnson had to put pitchers Jesse Orosco and Roger McDowell in the outfield for 3 innings until Howard Johnson (the player, not the hotel) hit a go-ahead home run to eventually win the game. Another weird note, Eric Davis was pinch running in the 10th after Pete Rose (who was a player AND the manager) got a single.

And here we are, 29 years later, with the Mets set to take on the Royals in the 2015 World Series. Who do you think will win?

The Mets and Royals have made it to the World Series. Both teams have played so hard to get here and yet, in a few years, barring some crazy memorable moment, we won’t remember who lost the World Series. Pop quiz time: can you remember who the Rays beat in 2008?

Just kidding! The Rays lost the 2008 World Series to the Phillies. Thus proving my point, that losing the World Series tends to make you a hazy footnote in baseball history. But those teams were good! They came in second that season! And a week or so prior to the World Series, they won their league’s LCS.

So this one’s for you: teams that won the LCS. (The first two aren’t exactly a surprise, but a few might.) Which franchises have won the most?

Tonight the Blue Jays host the Royals in Game 3 of the ALCS, with Kansas City up 2-0 in the series. Last year the Royals made the playoffs for the first time in 29 years, which made the Blue Jays the holder of the longest playoff drought in all four major sports. The Blue Jays broke that drought this year obviously, but prior to that, what happened the last time they were in the playoffs?

Following up their 1st ever World Series appearance and win, the Blue Jays added Hall-of-Famers Rickey Henderson and Paul Molitor and went 95-67 to clinch 1st place in the AL East. 1993 was the last year that there were only two playoff teams from each league, and Toronto would face the White Sox in the ALCS.

Toronto hosted Game 3,4 and 5 of the ALCS, before heading back to Chicago to win Game 6 to clinch the series.

And oh by the way, the last game Toronto hosted before this year was Game 6 of the World Series, where the Blue Jays had the series lead 3-2, and while they had a 5-1 lead in the 5th inning, the Phillies scored 5 runs in the 7th, and then this happened:

Tonight the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets square off in the Game 1 of the NLCS. Both teams have a long history, which means both teams have 1960s era theme songs written about them.

Here’s “Meet the Mets” for (obviously) the Mets:

The song was written by Bill Katz and Ruth Roberts (who also wrote many other baseball songs like “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame”) in 1962.

And while “Go Cubs Go” is played at Wrigley after every Cubs win, the 1969 Cubs had “Hey Hey Holy Mackerel” as their fight song:

“Hey Hey Holy Mackerel” was written by Chicago bandleader Johnny Frigo, who appeared on and hosted various radio music programs in Chicago from 1951 up until the 1970s. The song was for the 1969 Cubs, who in the first year of the National League East, held first place until early September when they were swept at Shea Stadium by the Mets and ended up losing 17 out of 25 games, to finish in 2nd at 92-70. (The Mets went on to win the World Series by the way)

So who do you think has the better theme song?

Thanks to Wikipedia and Youtube, the two best websites on the internet (not including this one)

Well, the new year has begun, and we here at Mendy’s want to wish you a happy, safe and prosperous new year! The new year also means that it’s only about 6 weeks until pitchers and catchers report – something to look forward to while we are enduring colder than normal January temperatures here in Maryland!

Another exciting prospect is the Orioles FanFest on February 1st in the Baltimore Convention Center. We will be there, and look forward to seeing our regular customers and hope to meet some new folks, too!

Our Mendy's booth at Orioles FanFest 2013

In addition to the Mendy’s Web site and our booth (B-69) in the Westminster Antique Mall, we now have some items on Amazon Marketplace. Whether you are decorating your “man cave”, looking for a perfect gift for a baseball fan, or adding to your collections, please let us know how we can serve you in 2014!

Why do people collect baseball memorabilia? This is a tough question, since everyone may have different reasons for collecting. Here are three that come to mind:

1. To reminisce about a meaningful game that you attended that you never want to forget. Whenever you look at the memorabilia item that you bought – a ticket, autographed ball, or program – you relive that awesome moment when your team won a big game or your favorite player set a record.

2. As an investment. Knowing what items will increase in value is very hard to predict. It depends on how popular a player is over the long term, and how rare is the item. It’s good to collect items that are meaningful to you, regardless of their resale value.

3. Because you enjoy collecting and displaying the items. It is exciting to find something that you’ve been searching for at a show, online, or at a flea market, and then to bring it home and find a special spot in which to display it.

I like to find unusual and quirky items, especially old Orioles memorabilia that I remember from my childhood. Also, the “running Presidents” bobble heads from the Nats!

Mendy’s Baseball Memorabilia will be at the Westminster Antique Mall (Westminster, MD) on Saturday, February 16, 2013, from 1pm to 4pm, providing free appraisals of your baseball memorabilia. Drop by to have your items appraised and talk a little baseball!

Some photos from the Orioles FanFest, which was very well attended, with over 18,000 fans there. Everyone was saddened on hearing the news of Earl Weaver’s passing, when the news broke early in the morning. The Orioles hung a large #4 and Weaver’s jersey on the Fan Forum stage.

There was a sense of anticipation for the 2013 season to begin, and long lines for autographs all day. We were very busy at our booth.